Intel opening Innovation Center in Taiwan

DigiTimes reports that Intel has opened a broadband wireless R&D center in Taipei, Taiwan. Intel CEO Craig Barret announced that the R&D center will focus on the research and development of chips used in communication and networking products. The Intel Innovation Center will offer work to 25 engineers in the beginning, and in the next few years it will increase to 50-60 engineers.

The announcement comes in part after D-Link and other companies on the island have been able to make WLAN products at lower costs, fueling demand for WLAN. Intel urges Taiwan’s government and corporate leaders to help Taiwan speed up becoming an “innovation hub for digital convergence,” and turn Taiwan into an “innovation” center from a designing and manufacturing facility, Barrett said at a press conference in Taipei. Once achieved, that would strengthen the R&D expertise of Taiwan and shorten time to market for products. Taiwan, one of the world’s biggest suppliers of IT products, is accelerating its efforts to upgrade itself to a technology center for global partners, since China has replaced Taiwan as a low-cost manufacturing base. So far, Hewlett-Packard (HP), Dell, Sony, Microsoft and IBM have established R&D centers in Taiwan, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), adding that the ministry’s goal is to attract 30 multinational companies for similar investments within the next five years.

Source : DigiTimes